Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Seeking a Teacher
Li Shi Kuan left the ancestral hall and passed by Li Wen Hua’s home. He paused at the gate and called out, “Ye Ni Er!”
“Here!” Li Wen Hua’s eldest daughter, Cui Ye, answered and hurried out.
“Go tell your father to come find me. Now.”
Cui Ye ran at once.
Not long after, Li Wen Hua arrived with his trouser legs rolled high, wooden clogs still smeared with mud. He went straight to the well, splashed water over his hands and calves, then sat down beside Li Shi Kuan and fanned himself with a palm fan.
“It’s getting hot early. What is it? The fields are busy.”
Li Shi Kuan placed three silver pieces into his hand. “Go change into clean clothes and make a trip to Gao Cun Market Town. Use two silver pieces to buy a four-part gift set for Teacher Gao. Deliver it and tell him: Teacher, you’ve worked hard.”
Li Wen Hua’s eyes widened a fraction at the sight of silver.
Li Shi Kuan continued, voice low and exacting. “With the remaining silver piece, buy eggs. Deliver those to Teacher Gao’s house as well. Tell Teacher Gao: two eggs a day. Ask Madam Gao to boil them for Xue Dong to build up his strength. And tell them this—when the eggs are gone, we’ll send more.”
Li Wen Hua swallowed his complaint. His own hens laid eggs. Buying eggs with silver was painful.
But he’d learned a long time ago that pain didn’t matter here.
Li Shi Kuan shot him a look that could pin a man to the floor. “Do what I told you.”
“I understand,” Li Wen Hua said quickly, shoulders hunching.
“And like the last two times,” Li Shi Kuan added, “avoid people.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle. I’ll go now.”
“Go.”
—
Teacher Gao had only taken the prefecture exam a few times in his life, but he had studied for years as an attached student at the prefecture school when he was young. He understood the path well enough to know exactly where the cliff edge lay.
In the county exam, Investigation of Things barely mattered. In the prefecture exam, ignorance cost you. In the academy exam, it killed you outright.
And Teacher Gao—Teacher Gao knew nothing about it.
For years, Gao Family School had never produced anyone worth worrying over. If no one could even reach the county exam’s inner circle, who cared whether they offered Investigation of Things?
Then Li Xue Dong placed third in the county exam.
On the road home, Teacher Gao had thought about it—briefly. He had told himself Li Xue Dong’s success was luck, not learning. The prefecture exam would swallow him. There was time. There was always time.
And then Li Xue Dong placed eighteenth in the prefecture exam.
Teacher Gao’s joy hadn’t even cooled before panic set his skin prickling. Luck like this didn’t come twice. If they didn’t seize it, they’d regret it for life.
But Xue Dong still didn’t know a single thing about Investigation of Things.
Teacher Gao lay awake the entire night, turning it over until the sky began to pale. At dawn, he took Li Xue Dong and went straight to Kun Shan County town.
First, he needed a teacher—someone truly skilled in Investigation of Things.
Xue Dong’s greatest strength was his stubborn diligence. His weakness was everything else. If he tried to learn this alone, he would crawl while the exam sprinted away. And time was not their friend.
A good teacher willing to teach him… Teacher Gao could think of only one possibility: the county school’s education instructor.
But Teacher Gao had no relationship with the man. In the end, he brought Xue Dong to beg an introduction from someone who did have weight—Magistrate Huang.
At the yamen gate, they ran into Teacher Yao, one of Magistrate Huang’s aides. Teacher Yao didn’t recognize Teacher Gao, but he recognized Li Xue Dong at once.
He stepped forward with a smile. “Li Xue Dong? What’s the matter?”
Li Xue Dong clasped his hands and bowed. “This student, with my teacher, asks to see Magistrate Huang.”
Teacher Yao glanced at Teacher Gao. “Trouble?”
“Not trouble,” Teacher Gao said quickly, smiling. “It’s about the academy exam.”
“Then come.” Teacher Yao nodded. “The magistrate is inside.”
Teacher Gao pushed Li Xue Dong into the office and bowed deeply. Li Xue Dong copied him, bowing until his sleeves brushed his knees.
Magistrate Huang smiled. “Enough ceremony. Sit. What difficulty have you run into?”
Teacher Gao went straight to the point. “I know nothing about Investigation of Things. Xue Dong has never studied it. The academy exam in the seventh month… I fear he’ll suffer badly. I’ve heard the county school has an education instructor—Education Instructor Wu—who can teach this subject. I beg the magistrate: can Xue Dong attend a few lectures?”
Magistrate Huang made a soft sound of understanding. “No wonder. In the county exam, he left the Investigation of Things paper completely blank.” His expression sobered. “In the academy exam, leaving it blank is almost certain failure.”
He turned to Teacher Yao. “How is Education Instructor Wu’s Investigation of Things? Have you spoken to him?”
Teacher Yao gave a helpless laugh. “He loves poetry. He doesn’t love Investigation of Things. But Teacher Shao of the Hong family is skilled in it.”
Magistrate Huang nodded thoughtfully, then looked back to Teacher Gao. “Old Master Hong likes to sponsor talented poor students. Ask the Hong family’s top scorer—Hong Zhen Ye, is it? Write to him. If Hong Zhen Ye speaks, you’ll find your teacher.”
Teacher Gao rose at once, bowing deep again. “Many thanks, Magistrate. Many thanks for the guidance.”
Li Xue Dong bowed as well, cheeks flushed with effort and hope.
They left the yamen. Teacher Gao bought paper and ink on the spot, found a teahouse, and guided Li Xue Dong through a letter to Hong Zhen Ye. Once it was written, he carried it straight to the courier shop and sent it off.
Early the next morning, Hong Zhen Ye—second young master of the Hong family—arrived outside Gao Family School with one attendant, one page, and three tall horses.
The page wasn’t big, but his voice could shake roof tiles. Sitting high on horseback, he shouted, “Is this Gao Family School? Is Master Li here?”
“Stop shouting!” an old servant woman of the Gao family, Auntie Huang, stormed out gripping a fire poker like a weapon. “There’s class inside!”
The page yelped and jerked his reins, startled into edging his horse aside.
The attendant jumped down at once, clasped his hands, and smiled apologetically. “Please forgive us. We’ve come from the county town. This is our second young master, surname Hong. He came to find Master Li—Li Xue Dong. Would you please pass the message?”
“Pass what message?” Auntie Huang snapped. “Wait until class ends!”